Upper-tightening device



June 3 1924.

C. F. PYM

UPPER TIGHTENING DEVICE Filed NOV. 19, 1920 2 Sheecs-Sheet 1 June 31924, 1,496,020

' 1 c. F. PYM

UPPER TIGHTENING DEVICE Filed Nov. 19, 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 PatentedJune 3, 1924.

cH'ARLEsn PYM; or LYNN, MAssnoHUsETTs';nssireltocaxrq UNITED-SHQEMAGHIM:

ER'YcoRPoRArIoN', oFrA-TERsoN;

NEWJERSEY, AcoizPoitAm-ioNon'NEW JERSEY UPPER-TIGHTENINGFDEVIGEETApplication afilemNovembei-xw, 1920: SerialcNi 4255123.?

To:allnoizbmitzmagficoncemi I Bl'ecit; known that: I, ORA-Rims; F. RIM;a subject-c of! the: King of England,1;andf,re-, siding-mt- Lynn; inithezcounty: of .Essexa'and 6 Statewof: Ma-ssachusetts,- have inventedcerttain Improvements in Uppen-Tightening Devices; of which the 1following description,

in connectionawith the-I accompanying drawings; is; a-specification,like reference char- 10 acters onthe; drawingsindicatingdike parts-iinwthe :several figures.

This: invention relates: to tightening-g de.

vices of the-type adapted? more; especially;

for closing together the eyeleted edgesaof' turn: shoes at: secondlasting, although it is apparent; that 'inmany aspects-the; inven tionis not limitedztorsuchiuser- V In. thez manufacture, of turnrshoes, itis customary to lace;' up the shoe,- tops before putting them on thelasts: preparatory-to attaching; thee soles: and also. before; the:relast ing: operation", after the soles are: attached, The; lacing is;usually done, with-twine, an operation" involving considerable timeandlabor-and the-useof considerable amounts;

of twine which is afterward ator and thrown away. 7

The object. of i the "invention; is -:to provide; a small, inexpensivetemporary fastening which may be; quickly and easily. attached toJ ashoe upper-for drawing it tightly on; a lastwithztheeeyeletededges-together; In the embodiments selected forillustration, a" pair ofholders having eyelet engaging hooks are:mounted for: relative movement controlled by curvedmemberswhich may beinthe =form ofrings-whichlock the holders in" their clamped relation tothe eyeletsof a shoe. Theholders: are; preferably thin, flat plates; andmove'bodily toward'ea'ch otherabout an axis substantiallyparallelto'theinstep portion; of the shoe: hen closed they lieclose: tothe shoe where; they can not interfere: with subsequent operations. Inaccordance with one embodiment, theringsmay also-be; arranged to providea mechanical advantage for forcing 1 the holders to their clamped'position. In another embodiment, the holders are connected by: curvedbarson which one-10f the holders may tilt. to bind the holders inclamping position.

These and, other: features of: the. invention,

cut by the oper-- including certain detailssoftconstrnctionfandtcombinationssofi parts'gsgwill be i set forth 4 in; .65 connectionwithillustrative: embodimentseoffi the-i: invention, ands-pointed outineathee. ap; pended-claims: Q

Referring toztheadrawings, v

Fig; 1 is a-rperspectiveeview showingrgonefi forms; of myw invention:applied 1 to y a;- relastel; ed-Z-shoeand-3-also:=showinggagtreadlaoperatede clamp} which rmayjbejusedatopforce the ehold-Q ersztogethen; to: cause: the; oppositeeyeletediedgesro theyupperi to; approach" each; other! 95overg-th'etilast; I

Eig 2; is, a perspective? views of thei'tighteening device detached;

Eig-i 3 is a perspective 1 view of; airelastedi' shoe: showingano-thenfornri'ofmy tighteiiiiig 'i device applied ;to its;

EigAcrisra perspective; view=-of theifdevicer detached; 7

Fig. 5 is? a: perspective.- view; of; still ana other form of inyninvention; 7

Fig. 6.is adiagrammatic: viewvshowingz; the manner in: which theringsyact 5130; clamp; theeyeletengaging;memberstogether, I

In" theform; of; my invention Sh'OWIIr-IIIE Fig;;.,2, the tightening-de.vicea;consists of two so relatively; movable :holders-i each;comprising a pairv of connected plates 10 which may: be stampedionti-ofsheet metal 'andgeach having pressed; out;portionsle and: 16 facing eachother:-to -form cavities in whichr'are insert ed eyelet;enga-ging1hooks18.- Eachgholder: with its hooks; 18- forms one: of. a:pair of clamping; members' which engagethe shoe eyeletsand' draw them:togetherover the last. These hooks:- are each 7 formed of 'a piece 01"?Wire bent back upon itselzt' between. the endszto form-a shankzfZOand;two OPPO?" sitely extending terminal .portions22 which formretainingrstopsr Theg pressed outf POT-7' tions; 14=-and 16- formangularcavities:;-ii1-; which; fit;loosely=the-shank and terminal stopportionsyof the eyelet engaging hooks?" and the cavities: are ofsufficient-j extent to enable; the hooks 181 to; have sliding. -movement-in order toregister with eyeletsaw hich' areedifi'erently spaced.To one Ofthefh01d', ers are rigidly secured-asat 32, curvedebars': 28which act as guides-for the otherholder, the; bars passing; ooselythrough openings; 34, and having; retaining t-knobs =30i at thein 1 ends--tow prevent: separation of" the; parts;

" 18, to swing them apertures 134 in the holders.

These bars 28 also act to lock the holders in closed position since thetension on the shoe upper tends to tilt the holders and causes them tobind frictionally against the bars. In Fig. 1 I have shown a shoe 36mounted on a last and the form of my invention just described applied tothe eyelets 38.

In order to draw the holders together, a special form of treadleoperated clamp may be used as shown in Fig. 1. It may consist of ahollow sleeve having horizontal ears 62 and 64 which are secured in anydesired manner to the table 66. Attached to the sleeve 60 is a lower jaw68 and above thisis mounted a. jaw 7 0 carried on the upper end of asleeve 74 slidable in the sleeve 60 and treadle operated. In order toraise the jaw 70 after it has been depressed to clamp the holderstogether, a coiled spring 7 6 is mounted within the enlargement 72 andbears at its upper end against the adjusting screw 7 8 and at its lowerend against an abutment block 80 mounted on a pin 82 secured to thesleeve 60. The pin 82 and the block 80 are embraced by the sleeve 74, along slot 84 in the latter sliding past pin 82 and serving to preventrotation of the clampingjaws with reference to each other. In the lowerend of the sleeve 74 is a pin 86-to which are connected rods 88 and 90actuated by the. treadle 94. Any suitable clamp 92 may be used toadjustably connect the rods. hen the treadle is released the spring 76raises the-upper jaw 70 and later, when it is desired to release theholders from the shoe, any suitable tool may be inserted between them atthe sides opposite the hooks back into a radial position where they willeasily slide along the bars 28.

In the form of tightening device illustrated in 4, the rings 128 afforda mechanical advantage in forcing the holders toward each other althoughthe treadle operated clamp may be used to aid in this operation. Asshown, the holders and the eye let engaging members may be formed inprecisely the same way as described with reference to Fig. 2, but inaddition there is provided a bowed spring 24 having slots 26 throughwhich pass the large rings 128, these large rings also passing throughsuitable I The ends of the holders are cut away on a curve as indicatedat 12 so that the rings may be rotated in the apertures 134 for thepurpose of locking the holders in clamping relation "*as indicated inFig. 3. These rings act to secure a mechanical advantage in the closingmovement of the holders and the manner in which they act will appearfrom reference to Fig. 6 where the ring 128 is shown passed looselythrough apertures 134 in the plates 10. The outer surface of each ringbears against the points 50 which provide a fulcrum, bears against thepoints 48, and, when both rings are rotated, the holders are forcedtogether bodily in a curve to apply equal tension to all the eyelets.When the rings are turned sufficiently around over the ends of theholders, the latter will be locked in position, the spring 24 causingthem to engage the rings frictionally. In this position, all of theparts of the device lie close to the shoe and do not interfere withsubsequent operations.

arating the holders when the rings are again turned back toward theirinitial positions. 7

In the form shown in Fig. 5, the holders and eyelet members are formedin a similar manner but I utilize spring plates 40 attached to theholders as by rivets 44 and through apertures 234 in these plates, Iinsert the rings 228. The ends of the plates 40 are curved as indicatedat 42 and the holders are locked in closed position by swinging therings around the ends 42 as just described with reference to Figs. 3 and4.

The operation of my tightening device is believed to be apparent fromthe above without any more detailed description.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a device of the class described, a pair of holders mountedto movebodily toward and from each other in a curve, eyelet engaging membersprojecting from the holders, and means their movement.

In a device of the class described, a pair of holders shaped to conformto the instep portion of a shoe, eyelet engaging hooks carried by theholders, and means at both ends of the holders for guiding them towardeach other to draw together the eyeleted edges of a shoe.

3. In a device of the class described, a pair of clamping membersmounted for relative movement, and a pair of rings for forcing theclamping members toward each other-with a mechanical advantage.

4. In a device of the class described, a

pair of relatively movable holders, 3. series of eyelet engaging membersmounted on each holder, and means to move all the mem- The spring alsoalds 1n sep and the inner surface of the ring to guide the holders inpair of relatively movable holders, eyelet engaging members carried bythe holders, and a curved member slidably supporting the holders forrelative movement in a curve toward and from each other.

7. In a device of the class described, a pair of relatively movableholders, a series of eye let engaging members movably mounted on eachholder to engage eyelets which are differently spaced, and a curvedmember slidably supporting the holders for relative movement in a curvetoward and from each other.

8. In a device of the class described, a pair of relatively movableholders, each holder comprising a pair of plates having expandedportions facing each other, eyelet engaging members mounted in thecavities formed by the expanded portions, and means to guide the holdersin their relative movement toward and from each other.

9. In adevice of the class described, a pair of relatively-movableholders, a series of eyelet engaging members mounted on each holder, andcurved members near the ends of the holders arranged to guide therelative movement thereof and to secure the members in clamped relationto the eyelets of a shoe.

10. In a device of the class described, a pair of thin, flat holdersarranged to move bodily toward and from each other about an axis locatedsubstantially parallel to the instep portion of a shoe, eyelet engagingmembers carried by the holders, and means for forcing the holders towardeach other to bring the eyeleted edges of a shoe upper together.

11. In a device of the class described, a pair of holders havingcavities formed therein, a series of eyelet engaging members fittingloosely in the cavities to compensate for differently spaced eyelets,and means to secure the members in clamped relation to the eyelets of ashoe.

12. In a device of the class described, a pair of holders, each holderhaving a series of angular cavities, a series of eyelet engaging memberseach having a shank and a terminal stop for insertion in an angularcavity, and means to secure the members in clamped relation to theeyelets of a shoe.

13. In a device of the class described, a pair of relatively movableholders, eyelet engaging members carried by the holders, and means tolock the members in clamped relation to the eyelets of a shoe, includinga spring which also acts to separate the holders when the locking meansis released.

14. In a device of the class described, a pair of relatively movableholders carrying eyelet engaging members, a spring interposed betweenthe holders, and means to lock the holders in closed relation againstthe pressure of the spring.

15. In a device of the class described, a pair of relatively movableholders, a series of eyelet engaging members carried by each holder andrings for locking the members in engagement with the eyelets of a shoe.

16. In a device of the class described, a pair of relatively movableholders each having cavities formed therein, a series of eyelet engagingmembers movably mounted in the cavities to engage eyelets which aredifierently spaced, and rings slidable through openings in the holdersfor guiding the holders in their relative movement.

17. In a device of the class described, a pair of relatively movableholders having openings, eyelet engaging members carried by the holders,rings loosely engaging the openings and constructed and arranged toguide the holders in their relative movement and to rotate in theopenings to force the holders toward each other to bring the eyeletengaging members into clamping relation to the eyelets.

18; In a device of the class described, a pair of relatively movableholders, eyelet engaging members carried by the holders,

means to lock the members in clamped relation to the eyelets of a shoe,and a spring arranged to separate the holders when the looking means isreleased.

In testimony whereof name to this specification.

CHARLE S F. PYM.

I have signed my

